Sumba Eclectus Eclectus cornelia, Tanimbar Eclectus E. riedeli, and Papuan Eclectus E. polychloros are split from Moluccan Eclectus (formerly Eclectus Parrot) E. roratus (Clements 2007:139)
Summary: Four species are now recognized in the Eclectus Parrot complex. Each occurs in a separate island group from eastern Indonesia through northern Australia, and some are likely threatened by trade.
Details: Six forms of the genus Eclectus were originally described as full species, and of these, four form major groups on plumage, size, and biogeography (a fifth is of unknown provenance). They have all long been treated as a single species (e.g., Peters 1937), with surprisingly little dispute among subsequent authors despite the great amount of variation encompassed. The mtDNA phylogeny of Braun et al. (2017) showed deep mitochondrial divergence congruent with the four major plumage groups of Eclectus, leading WGAC, HBW and BirdLife International (2022), and Clements et al. (2023) to treat these as four separate species.
According to ebird, feral populations in Singapore, Palau and some area of Australia are polychloros.
The former nominal species is restricted to the Moluccas.
@rjq What about the captive and escapees from outside these areas? They'll all end up Eclectus sp. but maybe that's a good thing since it will force people to reevaluate the ID?
According to ebird, feral populations in Singapore, Palau and some area of Australia are polychloros.
The former nominal species is restricted to the Moluccas.